For the Women

For the Women

When I was in grade seven, my teacher told my mom that I’d probably never go to university.

“She just doesn’t grasp the concept of anything we want her to learn,” my teacher explained. I remember waiting in the hallway at school outside my classroom during parent-teacher interviews, listening to my mom and teacher talk through the crack of the door. “She’ll probably never go to university.”

“But don’t worry,” she added. “There are a lot of other things that she can do, she’s such a pretty girl.”

I was twelve years old then, and what they were talking about didn’t really resonate with me at the time – but I still knew that my power had been compromised.

This is how a lot of my life has been; people telling me what I can and can’t do, under compensating my abilities and over compensating on my feminine qualities.

And I’m sure a lot of other women have also experienced this in parts of their own lives, too.

For the women who share these experiences, this is what I want you to know:

People are going to try and take away your power, and there will be times that you’ll need to fight for it – but trust me, it’s worth fighting for

There are going to be people who will try and take away your power. The most important thing you can do in these circumstances is fight and guard your power with everything you have. Your power encapsulates your worth – and this belongs to you, and you alone. Never, ever give it away.

You do not need to live up to other’s expectations

You are inherently special and unique for being you. You don’t need to live into the expectations of other people to prove anything otherwise. Live into who you are, and who you want to be… on your own terms.

Your womanhood and sexuality does not define you

Society has conditioned us to feel like we need to act and be a certain way because we’re women, or that we’re confined to a specific definition of who a woman is and should be. Here’s the real truth: we are so much more than the physiological traits that biologically define us.

You can do anything you want. Period.

This needs no explanation.

Pssst, hey teacher: in 2013, I graduated with a Masters degree in Communication. I also hold a Bachelors degree in English (with honors).